Swiss Re Chair Says US Insurance Priced Too Low for Climate Risk

This has been a year of insurance sticker shock in the US. But the man who provides insurance to insurers thinks maybe the shock still isn’t enough to steer people away from risk in a changing climate.

“There is not a lot of action yet, not enough,” Jacques de Vaucleroy, chairman of Swiss Re, said in a recent interview at the company’s Manhattan offices. Homes are still being built in places they shouldn’t be, he noted, and often grandly at that. Premiums relative to the potential payout for a claim are still acceptable for many consumers, he added.

Such a view might infuriate homeowners in ...